CONTROVERSIAL proposals for student flats adjoining Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s world-renowned Glasgow School of Art are acceptable and should go ahead, planning chiefs have said.
Council officers have recommended the seven-storey development neighbouring the A-listed Art School be approved when the decision is made in the coming days, despite concerns over the heritage impact of the scheme.
Glasgow’s planning committee will hear the application on Tuesday. The council has received 46 letters of objection in relation to the application including impact on the character and setting of the Mackintosh Building and conservation area and views towards it from surrounding areas.
Objectors have also claimed the building would damage Glasgow’s reputation as a tourist destination and any future Unesco World Heritage bid, as well as complaints of an oversupply of student accommodation in the city centre.
But a report to the councillors states that the proposal “is acceptable in land use planning terms” and that the council “has given due care to the potential for the proposal to impact upon the character and appearance of the surrounding conservation area and setting of adjacent listed buildings”.
It adds: “The planning authority is satisfied that the design enhances the character and appearance of the Central Conservation Area and preserves the special interest of adjacent listed buildings. On the basis of the foregoing, it is recommended that planning permission be granted subject to conditions.”
Revealed by The Herald last summer, the plans involve the demolition of the late-1960s block housing the former Jumping Jacks nightclub to make way for the creation of a 180-bed student housing development.
Developers Urban Pulse have previously said their proposals were in-line with the aspirations to rejuvenate Sauchiehall Street “and re-establish this important city district”.
But GSA director Professor Tom Inns said the institution was “significantly concerned” about the approval recommendation, adding Historic Environment Scotland believed the design had not fully addressed the impact on the Mackintosh Building.
He added: “We are two years into a meticulous restoration project which aims to bring this masterpiece back to its full significance for our students and for the people of Glasgow. It would be a tragedy if a decision were taken to support a development that will block light into over half the south elevation of the building, including studios and exhibition corridors, impacting directly on the students and visitors.
“The GSA is committed to growing Glasgow’s economy but this must not be done at the expense of one of the very assets that make the city distinctive. We hope that recognizing this councillors will call in the proposals for further work to ensure that the buildings can co-exist without detriment the jewel in Glasgow’s Mackintosh crown.”
Stuart Robertson, of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, said: “We think it is a terrible development and should not be allowed. The proposed student accommodation design has very little architectural merit and would drastically affect and obliterate Mackintosh’s masterpiece building.
Both Glasgow City Council and Urban Pulse could not comment ahead of the hearing.
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